Sony And Panasonic OLED TV Partnership Dissolves

Sony and Panasonic tied up to build OLED panels for TVs in June of last year. The goal of the partnership was to develop mass produced tech for OLED TVs by 2013. That goal was never reached. The growth in the OLED TV segment that the two firms expected never happened.

Much of the reason why OLED TVs failed to gain popularity was because they cost significantly more than a comparable LCD TV. The boom in 4K LCD panels also meant more consumers were looking to that tech rather than thinner OLED TVs. Sony and Panasonic have announced that their partnership to develop OLED TVs will be dissolved.

Rather than focusing on OLED TV production, the two firms will focus on 4K LCD panels. That doesn't mean that they will abandon OLED TVs altogether. The two companies say that they will continue to develop OLED panels separately.

Both Sony and Panasonic are expected to have OLED TVs on display at CES 2014 kicking off next month. Unless something happens to drive the cost of big OLED panels down significantly the technology is unlikely to catch on in the mass market any time soon. Sony had the first OLED TV on the market back on 2008 with its XEL-1 that cost $2500 for a tiny 11-inch screen.

SOURCE: Japan Daily Press